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March 1999 Insights Issue #29The culture trapReasons why girls drop out in GhanaDo we always acknowledge the cultural framework within which educational development occurs? And are we alert to the interplay between different domains (the home, the school, the economy) where policymakers and policy researchers focus their attention and seek to intervene for the better? Not nearly enough, argues the report on a study that set out to explore reasons why girls drop out of primary school in Ghana. The realities of school and home life matter, it says, no less than educational inputs and outputs. The study took place in two contrasting areas of Ghana, setting out in 1994 with aims linked to those of the UN World Decade of Cultural Development (1988-1997). A team composed mostly of Ghanaian researchers used culturally sensitive research methods (generally in the form of life history interviews) to probe issues in the home, the school and the economy that might affect school access and drop-outs. An attempt was then made to compare experiences of girls in and out of regular schooling, with those of female schoolteachers who had 'succeeded' in their educational life journeys, even while contending with past eras of economic hardship. Donors and government agencies had recently made efforts to review and improve educational provision for girls. The study also sought, therefore, to refer the impact of these and other policy interventions to the actual experiences of Ghana's women and girls. A key finding of the study in relation to the home domain was that socialisation of the child in her home compound affects her (and her teachers') attitude to knowledge. Furthermore:
In the economic domain, on a macro (national or international) scale, the introduction of structural adjustment policies has placed a growing burden of user fees for health and education services on needy people living at the margins of society and the formal economy. Worst affected are poor rural families in the north of Ghana that rely on crops that command no cash or export value. At the micro (local and household) level, the survey showed girls were often sole breadwinners in many extended families and thus had to contrive coping strategies to juggle conflicting school and work demands. Many children regard the domain of the school as one where little of value is done or learned. Looking into the culture of the classroom, researchers came across attitudes to knowledge, teaching methods and language policies that tended only to hamper improvement. The life of teachers is hard and their status in the community low. For the child, positive experiences such as being well taught in basic skills of literacy and numeracy, having able women teachers to look up to as role models and being spared from unjust corporal punishment are too often lacking from her school life. Policy lessons arising from the study hinge on:
Contributor(s): David Stephens |
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